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INDECOM has been in existence since 2010. The Agency’s head and the politi-fools who created and maintain it argues that it is an act of parliament. As if an act of parliament is something that is irreversible.
The agency releases it’s quarterly reports in grandiose fashion, replete with media gaggle at it’s plush New Kingston Offices. All this, while the police which has served the Jamaican people for 303-years still occupy run down delipidated workspaces, unfit for habitation.
That, however, is a matter for another time. The point is that the commissioner of INDECOM believes that the quarterly report must be critical of, and confrontational with the police,. Terrence Williams does not believe that a report can be complimentary, or conciliatory.
So every quarter he trots out like the little troll he is, to tear down the Police department with some cockamamie story or another, that he feels will garner the most backlash against the police when he bitches against some wrongdoing or another.
Never mind that all across Jamaica people are dropping like flies to the marauding gunmen and nobody seems to have a clue how to stop the killings.
One of the most insane things that I have heard, is the totally ridiculous call for the police to stop shooting criminals.
As far as Terrence Williams is concerned innocent dead Jamaicans is in no way connected to the number of violent confrontations police have with criminals.
But he is not alone, there are many of these sanctimonious, self-indulgent fools who Monday morning-quarterback whatever police do with a critical eye. Horace Levy and Peter Espeut are two of the leading propagandists,’ et al, as well. Never mind that neither of these parasites has ever been shot at, much less shot by criminals.
The other nonsense we hear is that it is up to the police to minimize the number of gangsters they kill.
In other words, Jamaican cops operating in one of the most volatile and hostile environments on the planet, must be the most surgical in how they do their jobs.
Never mind that before one performs cosmetic surgery to remove the scars, the all-important work of life-saving surgery must first be done.
That means that we first remove the murderers before we contemplate anything else.
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The idea of oversight for police officers is not a novel concept, this writer, a former police officer, understands this all too well. Accountability works for the good of citizens and police alike.
Where we run into problems is when those who take on the task of oversight turn their mission into a crusade, because they are of the belief in that oversight means lording over, and being in control of.
Terrence Williams exemplifies that.
It is with that in mind that the comments of the police federation chairman were so appropriate in responding to Terrence Williams’ outrageous recommendations to the government.
Sergeant Patrae Rowe police federation chairman blasted Williams’ comments in INDECOM’s quarterly report as absurd.
Williams, in his usual glory-hound persona, recommended that cops charged with what he calls (egregious breaches of law or practice) be discharged from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) without awaiting criminal proceedings.
In other words, the constitutional guarantee of the presumption of innocence afforded to all Jamaicans in the constitution, is to be removed from police officers.
What makes the demand more outrageous is the fact that police officers are not acting on their own when they don their uniforms, they are acting on behalf of the state.
It is with that particular thought in mind, that developed countries recognize that officers need an added layer of protection. In the United States that protection is called qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine in United States federal law that shields government officials from being sued for discretionary actions performed within (their official capacity), unless their actions violated “clearly established” federal law or constitutional rights.
Of course, any breach has to first be proven before punitive sanctions are attached to the offending party.
In his own words, Terrence Williams argued, “in egregious cases, where clear breaches of policy, practice or law are apparent… officers be discharged from the police service, without awaiting pending criminal proceedings”.
Ha, so there you have it, this very prominent lawyer who wanted to be Director of Public Prosecutions, is advocating for a presumption of guilt before trial. What’s more, he is advocating for a presumption of guilt in a situation where arguably there should be a reinforcement of the presumption of innocence.
At a time when crime is through the roof, at a time when Jamaicans are slaughtered in record numbers, at a time when a single murder does not garner a raised eyebrow, the country needs to ensure that it’s resources and support are squarely behind its law enforcement officers.
Additionally, the police department cannot retain the officers it has, much less to meet recruitment quotas, because of shitty pay, bad working conditions, and INDECOM, it is way past time for Terrence Williams and Hamish Campbell to go. It is way past time for INDECOM to be disbanded.
It is clear to Jamaicans who chose not to be blinded by politics that Terrence Williams has one strategy, and that is to destroy what’s left of the JCF. He has single-handedly done more to aid the expansion of criminal networks in Jamaica through his Don Quixote style assault on the JCF, than any other person ever has.
Sergeant Rowe argued “The nature of policing requires frequent interaction, violent interaction, with criminals. With the crime rate that Jamaica is currently experiencing, if the number of police officers involved in a confrontation with criminals are to be removed off front-line duties, who does the job of the police? Everybody can’t be removed off front-line duties simply because they are under investigation. I think INDECOM’s reason has to have more depth than this.”
Rowe’s comments were in response to Williams’ absurd recommendation that “officers under suspicion should be removed from front-line duties to ensure there is no appearance of collusion or tolerance of such incidents.”
In other words, validated confirmation of wrongdoing is no longer the goal, mere suspicion that an officer has done something wrong should be enough to have officers removed from their duties.
This is the kind of thinking which could only come from (a) a mentally incapacitated individual, or (b) an individual who is so demented, hateful and vengeful that maggots have completely eaten away whatever brain matter he had.
That is the derangement syndrome that INDECOM has come to represent.
The Jamaican people have a choice to make.
They can continue with this Albatros on the nation’s collective back, and watch their loved ones murdered daily. Or they can demand that the Act be repealed.
In the meantime, it behooves those with the power to remove this mental degenerate before he does any more harm.
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Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police Detective corporal, a business owner, avid researcher, and blogger.
He is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com.
He’s also a contributor to several websites.
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